Motorola's affordable powerhouse is back with big improvements

I love portable technology—if you can put it in a pocket or a bag, I’m probably into it. I’ve covered phones and tablets of all shapes and sizes, and reviewed everything from game consoles to laptops in my decade-plus career. Prior to joining PCMag, I wrote articles for Android Authority, How-To Geek, MUO, New Atlas, Tom’s Hardware, and plenty of other tech publications.

The 2022 Moto Edge offers stellar battery life, peppy performance, and streamlined Android software for a lower price than its predecessor.

In some ways, affordable flagship smartphones are more interesting than top-of-the-line models because so many more options exist, and Motorola is no stranger to this price bracket. After last year's slightly disappointing Moto Edge ($699.99), the company is back with a new and improved Moto Edge for 2022, coming in $100 less at $599.99. This more affordable Android phone features some substantial improvements over its predecessor, including better cameras, improved connectivity, and longer battery life. It's definitely worth checking out for Motorola fans, though the Google Pixel 6 ($599.99) and the OnePlus 10T ($649.99) offer greater advantages for a similar price.

The 2022 Moto Edge is visually stunning. It has a slick, matte plastic finish that doesn’t attract fingerprints on the back, while the plastic mid-frame contrasts it with shinier plastic. The phone is only available in the Midnight Gray color we tested.

At 6.3 by 2.9 by 0.3 inches (HWD) and 6.0 ounces, the Edge is close in size to both the Pixel 6 (6.2 by 2.9 by 0.4 inches, 7.3 ounces) and the OnePlus 10T (6.4 by 3.0 by 0.3 inches, 7.2 ounces), though its substantially lighter, making it feel a bit less premium. Last year's Edge was much larger at 6.9 by 3.0 by 0.4 inches and 7.1 ounces; we appreciate the shrinkage here.

Motorola packed a 6.6-inch OLED display under the front glass with an appealing 91.32% screen-to-body ratio, which means bezels are at a minimum. The screen sports a 144Hz refresh rate, which is above average for the category, with a resolution of 2,400 by 1,080 pixels and a 20:9 aspect ratio. The display is quite bright at 1,300 nits; it remains fairly visible outside during the day, though like most phones, you might struggle to see it clearly under direct sun. In normal lighting conditions, the screen looks bright and vibrant, with excellent viewing angles.

Most users are likely going to run the phone with the refresh rate set to Auto because it adapts based on what you're doing, but if you like the smoother motion, you can set it to always run at 144Hz for the smoothest scrolling experience on apps and websites. Of course, using the phone at a high refresh rate all the time will drain the battery more quickly.

A fingerprint reader tucked under the display glass lets you quickly unlock the phone. It was highly accurate in testing: In more than 100 unlock attempts, it failed to read my fingerprint only once.

There's no headphone jack on the phone, nor is there support for memory cards, but that's typical among phones in this price range, including the Pixel 6 and the OnePlus 10T. The right rail includes a volume rocker and a power button, while a SIM card tray is on the left. A USB-C port sits on the bottom.

Durability is a significant concern in light of the phone's IP52 rating. The Moto Edge is reasonably resistant to dust, but it can handle only dripping water. Motorola has long lagged the competition when it comes to waterproofing its devices, and this one follows suit. Moreover, Motorola uses Gorilla Glass 3 to protect the front, which is years behind the stronger Gorilla Glass 5 and Gorilla Glass Victus panels on leading devices. For comparison, the OnePlus 10T uses Gorilla Glass 5 and the Pixel 6 uses Gorilla Glass Victus.

The Moto Edge, somewhat surprisingly, uses a MediaTek Dimensity 1050 processor with 8GB of RAM. This combo exceeded our performance expectations and even beat the Pixel 6 and OnePlus 10T in some benchmarks.

We started with the PCMark Work test, which determines how well phones handle basic tasks such as web browsing and photo editing. Here, the Moto Edge snagged a score of 11,860, whereas the Pixel 6 turned in a score of 10,602. That’s a close race, but it does showcase the latest MediaTek chip’s power.

With the GeekBench test, which measures raw performance, the Pixel 6's Tensor chip handily outperformed the Edge's MediaTek silicon. On the single-core test, the ​​Pixel 6 got 1,021 and the Edge got 747. On the multi-core test, the Pixel 6 earned a score of 2,813 and the Edge reached only 2,171. 

For our gaming benchmarks, we had to run the phone against the Pixel 6a, as the tests failed to run on the Pixel 6, but the 6a is similar in terms of power. On the demanding GFXBench Aztec Offscreen 1440p test, the Edge averaged 9.8 frames per second, whereas the Pixel 6a averaged 7.1fps. We also tested the Moto Edge with Genshin Impact running at medium graphics and 60fps settings. The WeTest PerfDog tool(Opens in a new window) revealed that the Edge fell well shy of 60fps, averaging 45.9 frames per second, which is playable, but not as smooth as what you can get with more powerful phones.

If you’re a gamer who likes to keep a lot of apps on your phone, the Edge's 256GB of storage should suffice, though be warned this is the only option Motorola offers at the time of this writing.

Also keep in mind that benchmarks only tell part of the story, and the Moto Edge performed slightly better than I expected for day-to-day tasks. Nothing about the phone ever felt slow or sluggish, and apps launched quickly and smoothly.

The Moto Edge's stereo speakers pump out decent enough volume for calls and music. We measured 76.4dB through the earpiece and 94.7dB through the speaker, which is about average compared with similar phones we've reviewed. We evaluated the phone's audio performance with our bass test track, The Knife's “Silent Shout,” and found low-end response respectable, though not overly impressive. We also played Gojira's “Stranded” for some contrast and the metal track sounded just fine through the speakers.

Motorola has been on a roll with battery life lately, with the Motorola G 5G Stylus lasting over 13 hours in our video streaming rundown test. Similarly, the 5,000mAh battery in the new Moto Edge kept it running for an even longer 13 hours and 11 minutes with the screen set to Auto refresh rate mode. That said, the Pixel 6 ran for an asbolutely stunning 23 hours and 11 minutes, while the OnePlus 10T lasted 8 hours and 51 minutes in the same test.

The Motorola Edge supports wired charging speeds up to 30W via the compatible Motorola TurboPower charger, as well as wireless charging speeds up to 15W. The phone also supports 5W reverse wireless charging, which means you can use it to provide power to another gadget, such as a charging case for true wireless earbuds. In testing, the phone took about an hour and 45 minutes to fully charge with a 30W power adapter we had on hand. Sadly, Motorola doesn't include a high-speed charger in the box (or any charger, for that matter), which means you have to pony up extra cash to get the best charging rates.

The Motorola Edge supports mmWave and sub-6GHz 5G connections in the US, as well as a healthy number of 5G bands. Motorola plans to sell the device at T-Mobile stores and unlocked through various online retailers with support for AT&T and Verizon.

The handset surpassed expectations on our cellular connectivity tests, offering above average uptime in an area with weak T-Mobile signal over a mix of 4G and 5G connections. If you live in an area with unreliable T-Mobile service, the Motorola Edge can keep you connected better than most other phones in its class.

We evaluated the phone's Wi-Fi performance by running speed tests both with it in the same room as a router and as far away from the router as we could manage in a 1,000-square-foot apartment. In the nearby test, the Edge reached download speeds of 327Mbps, compared with an iPhone 12 Pro Max's 330Mbps. In the latter scenario, the Edge averaged 112Mbps, once again close to the iPhone's 116Mbps.

The phone supports Bluetooth 5.2 and NFC. We didn’t have any issues connecting Bluetooth headphones and the connection never dropped during testing. NFC worked perfectly fine for tap-and-go payments at a local gas station.

Average users should be happy with the imaging capabilities of the Moto Edge, but if you’re serious about smartphone photography, you might want to consider a phone with top cameras.

The back of the phone features standard and ultra-wide cameras, as well as a macro lens for close-ups. The primary 50MP camera sports an f/1.8 aperture, while the secondary 13MP ultra-wide lens has an f/1.5 aperture and a 120-degree field of view. The selfie camera on the front has a 32MP sensor with an f/2.45 aperture. The front and rear sensors feature Motorola's Quad Pixel technology, which is also known as pixel binning. In essence, the phone combines multiple pixels to create superpixels; the resulting photos benefit from enhanced brightness, especially in low-light environments.

The rear cameras capture strong images in daylight, but low-light photos are a bit of a letdown, even with the Quad Pixel technology. The Google Pixel 6, with its Night Sight feature, vastly outperformed the Motorola model in the latter scenario; that’s not surprising, because Google’s cameras are among the best in the industry for low-light captures.

Color accuracy is solid, and images snapped with the main camera look vibrant and attractive. Photos with the Pixel 6 look a little better, but you have to peer closely to spot the differences, which is a testament to the quality of Motorola's main sensor.

Images from the ultra-wide camera look clean, though not quite as sharp as those from the main lens. Still, it's nice to have the flexibility to get those extra-large photos. The macro sensor does a fantastic job of maintaining focus while getting extremely close to the subject, though the images aren't nearly as nice to look at as those from the 50MP main camera.

The selfie camera suffers from some strange color issues in indoor settings. For instance, it made the shadows on my face look purple. At first, I thought this might be due to the phone’s beauty filters (which, for some reason, are on by default), but even after turning them off, I couldn’t get rid of the purple hue in the shadows in environments with medium amounts of light. When I tested the selfie camera outside, though, the purple shadow issue was gone and the photos looked normal.

The Edge offers a lot of video capture options: 4K at 30fps, 1080p at 30/60fps, and 1080p at 120fps for slow-motion recording. If you drop to 720p, the Edge can even push slow-motion capture to 960fps, a 32x slow-mo effect. Video quality isn't a particular standout, but you do get a few stabilization options to help smooth out your recordings.

Motorola seems to have taken the complaints about its device update policy to heart. It now offers three years of Android updates and four years of bimonthly security updates, which is a solid update policy for a phone in this price range, though Google and Samsung still surpass it. The company hasn't yet confirmed when this device will get Android 13, which has already started to roll out to Google's Pixel phones.

Motorola's Android 12 skin is close to stock and generally pleasant to use. A few preinstalled apps and features appear throughout the experience, such as a device help app, a messaging app, and a gaming overlay. None of them are intrusive, which we appreciate.

Motorola's 2022 Moto Edge is a quality Android smartphone that holds its own against the Pixel 6 and OnePlus 10T with solid performance, long battery life, and a slick design. It also costs less than its predecessor, which is nice to see since the price of high-end flagships is more apt to go up than down. Average cameras, however, and a lackluster water-resistance rating hold the phone back slightly, leaving the Pixel 6 in the lead as our Editors' Choice winner, with the OnePlus 10T coming close behind. And if you're willing to leave Android behind, the iPhone 12 ($599.99) remains a strong option, though the iPhone 13 might drop to the same price soon after iPhone 14 announcement.

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I love portable technology—if you can put it in a pocket or a bag, I’m probably into it. I’ve covered phones and tablets of all shapes and sizes, and reviewed everything from game consoles to laptops in my decade-plus career. Prior to joining PCMag, I wrote articles for Android Authority, How-To Geek, MUO, New Atlas, Tom’s Hardware, and plenty of other tech publications.

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